chapter one

[[ Clara's Pov ]]

The winter night seemed longer than the whole span of a day in my life. The interrogation room wasn't suffocating me in reality but the anguish of losing my sister was slashing every inch of my heart.

I could still hear the commotion going on outside. The chatter of reporters was still hot in the air. They had implored and contended to invade inside. Well, it wasn't because they cared about my pathetic state. They were persistent to meet me to fetch a hot headline for tomorrow's newspaper.

" CLARA BLACKWOOD HAS KILLED HER SISTER OUT OF JEALOUSY"

" , CLARA BLACKWOOD THE NEW SUPERMODEL HAS ERASED HER MAIN RIVAL SISTER "CATHERINE BLACKWOOD" FROM HER PATH"

It was supposed to be their headline tomorrow. I sighed, drooping my head down under the bulb and tugging inside my hair messily. I was exhausted from crying, sobbing, pleading, and explaining repeatedly that I didn't kill Catherine.

How can I kill my flesh and blood? She is my idol, was my idol, and always will be my idol and beloved sister!

The metal bar of the interrogation room rang loudly inciting me to jerk in my spot. I shut my eyes in frustration and waited in anticipation.

Some heavy footsteps began to approach me from the doorway. I tugged my jeans nervously and finally mustered up the courage to confront the man who just walked in.

I noticed a man in his fifties. With his wrinkled complexion and a few white hairs, he defined his old age perfectly. Lowering my eyes to his tag name, I figured out that he was the deputy commissioner who came to interrogate.

Surprisingly, the man exhaled a deep sigh and pulled out the chair in front of me. Having seated properly, he inquired straightforwardly,

" Miss Blackwood, Please admit it now. I can understand that young people like you are bound to get envious of a successful woman. But at least, tell us! Where did you hide her body?”

I was awestruck by his words. I couldn't believe that people had accepted me as the murderer so easily. I painfully grunted, stubbornly holding the tears back and emphasizing each word,

" I didn't murder.. her...I didn't even know that the gas cylinder was leaking...It was just a coincidence that I went over there...Why on earth would I kill my sister? Jealousy? I have always visualized her as my idol. Why will I kill her?"

" Step-sister", the old man corrected with a harsh voice. My voice dumped me midway after hearing this bitter truth. Just because she was my step-sister, everyone had already surmised that I was jealous of her. In reality, I cherished her more than anything else in this world.

I silently gulped the pain and mumbled incoherently,

" I didn't do anything...I didn't know how she followed me over there..."

The old man didn't interrogate her anymore. He sighed deeply and spoke while standing up from the spot,

" Since you don't change your statements, I have nothing to say here. You have a visitor."

I blinked between my weepy eyes and watched the man leave silently.

Visitor?

A deep frown appeared between my knitted brows. A part of me solemnly wished that it was my father. I still didn't know whether he would believe me or not.

I declined my eyes down in distress and heard a pair of hasty footsteps rushing inside. As I heaved my eyes up in hope and anticipation, my heart plummeted instantly. It was none other than my brother-in-law, DYLAN DAVIDSON, the current dominant businessman in our country.

He walked down to me, transmitting dominance and intimidation in every step. He came and sat in front of my desk. My brown eyes stared up at him as I was perplexed about how to greet or talk. He was at least six feet tall with a robust body that was probably every girl's dream man.

His pitch-black eyes were glued on me unleashing a devilish aura as if he was here to deplete my soul. Two buttons of his black custom-made suit were opened out highlighting his perfect collarbone that had a shiny layer of sweat. His breathing was raspy, apprehension was occupying each moment that we spent in silence. His intense whiff of masculine cologne invaded my nostrils as I stared up at him blankly.

We had probably only met a few times. Half of my lifetime was spent abroad and by the time I got back to pursue my dream as a supermodel, my sister was already married to Dylan Davidson and was the top model of our country. I had only spent a year here before today's incident happened. I used to hear about him a lot from my sister who had proudly boasted that Dylan treated her like a queen. It was all over the news that Dylan was madly in love with my sister.

We had met a few times at a party. He only gave two simple 'hey' and that was all the family relationship we had. I was more immersed in my modeling career thus I never paid much attention to my sister's personal life.

Without any prior warning, Dylan suddenly gripped my chin so harshly that I flinched in pain. He compelled me to confront his murderous eyes and growled like an angry beast,

" Why did you kill her? Why? She treated you like her own sister but you turned out to be a snake."

I stuttered between his harsh grip,

" I..I didn't... trust me..It..it was an accident.."

His countenance didn't seem convinced even a bit. Instead, it dimmed further which caused me to gasp in pain as his icy voice rang in my ears like a midnight nightmare," You were the only one who went inside the kitchen. Tell me, why did you need to turn on the stove during a party? Tell me, why did she have to use the damn washroom from the kitchen instead of her room? When the whole ship was busy at the party, why did you appear in the kitchen all of a sudden? Do you think that everyone is a fool like you?"

I almost shrieked at the sudden force that he pressed on my chin. Yes, it was my fault that I went there to prepare some herbal tea to get over my hangover state.

But I didn't even know that Catherine would be using the washroom at that time.

I stammered struggling to inhale a proper breath,

" I..I don't know..I swear that I only went for...a..tea…

I didn't have an ounce of the idea that the gas cylinder leaked..."

I didn't expect him to believe me but suddenly he let go of my chins. I barely sucked a lungful breath. My eyes shifted up to him as he shoved his hands inside his pockets.

Before I could come up with a thought about what was going to happen, he pulled out some pictures and threw them off on my face.

My eyes traveled around the pictures that lay sprawled on the desk. The pictures were taken that evening when I was giving autographs to my fan who was nearly my age.

Then I heard him uttering with a disdainful sneer,

" You will still deny, won't you? This man is the leader of a mafia gang. He is a sworn enemy of mine and probably was targeting Catherine for a long time. What were you doing with him? Tell me?”

My mind almost stopped working when he uttered those words. I couldn't believe that this man was a mafia leader who seemed to be in his late twenties.

Why was everything going against me?

I replied in disbelief,

" Brother-in-law.. Trust me..I had no clue..He..he was imploring for an autograph..I..."

BANG!

The rest of my words were stuck in my throat as he kicked off the chair in resentment. He charged forward dramatically pressing his fingers down on the desk and held my frightened eyes to his furious eyes. His voice came out like a king of the devil,

" If you cook up any more fancy stories, I will forget that you are Catherine's sister, Clara. So many times! Catherine told me that you were following her each step like an obsessive child but I never paid attention to her words. How I wished that I would have believed her back then!

Perhaps she would have been alive today. Now even her body is missing. How far can you go to pursue your goal?"

My mind went numb after hearing his harsh words. My lips shivered violently in pain when the inner thoughts of my sister had come out of Dylan's mouth.

Did she think of me as her rival? Then why didn't she ever tell me that she didn't like me following her path?

I figured out that there was no point in arguing with Dylan anymore. He had enough reasons to hate me but it didn't change the fact that I had no hands behind this incident. I am going to stick to the truth.

I encouraged myself. Fisting my palms together, I finally mustered up the courage to speak,

" It doesn't prove that I am behind all of this. Did you find any solid connection between us? Show me solid proof where I have contacted this mafia or caused this fire burn."

A surprised look promptly flashed across his eyes when I spoke with authority. His jaw clenched in resentment as he spoke in a husky and dangerous voice,

" Clara, don't try to play tricks with me. One signal of my finger is enough to destroy your whole career."

I laughed bitterly at his words and stared through my heavy eyelids,

" I am already destroyed, brother-in-law. What will happen further?"

As he pursued his lips to spit out more venomous words, we both heard an urgent voice coming from the doorway,

" CLARA ISN'T AT FAULT!”